Disposition and biotransformation of the new antipsychotic agent olanzapine (OLZ) were studied in six male healthy volunteers after a single oral dose of 12.5 mg containing 100 microCi of [14C]OLZ. Biological fluids were analyzed for total radioactivity, the parent compound (GC/MS), and metabolites (electrospray LC/MS and LC/MS/MS). Mean radiocarbon recovery was approximately 87%, with 30% appearing in the faces and 57% excreted in the urine. Approximately half of the radiocarbon was excreted within 3 days, whereas > 70% of the dose was recovered within 7 days of dosing. Circulating radio-activity was mostly restricted to the plasma compartment of blood. Mean peak plasma concentration of OLZ was 11 ng/ml, whereas that of radioactivity was 39 ng eq/ml. Mean plasma terminal elimination half-lives were 27 and 59 hr, respectively, for OLZ and total radioactivity. With the help of NMR and MS data, a major metabolite of OLZ in humans was characterized as a novel tertiary N-glucuronide in which the glucuronic acid moiety is attached to the nitrogen at position 10 of the benzodiazepine ring. Another N-glucuronide was detected in urine and identified as the quaternary N-linked 4'-N-glucuronide. Oxidative metabolism on the allylic methyl group resulted in 2-hydroxymethyl and 2-carboxylic acid derivatives of OLZ. The methyl piperazine moiety was also subject to oxidative attack, giving rise to the N-oxide and N-deemethyl metabolites. Other metabolites, including the N-deemethyl-2-carboxy derivative, resulted from metabolic reactions at both the 4' nitrogen and 2-methyl groups. The 10-N-glucuronide and OLZ were the two most abundant urinary components, accounting for approximately 13% and 7% of the dose, respectively. In fecal extracts, the only significant radioactive HPLC peaks were due to 10-N-glucuronide and OLZ representing, respectively, approximately 8% and 2% of the administered dose. Semiquantitative data obtained from plasma samples from subjects given [14C]OLZ suggest that the main circulating metabolite is 10-N-glucuronide. Thus, OLZ was extensively metabolized in humans via N-glucuronidation, allylic hydroxylation, N-oxidation, N-dealkylation and a combination thereof. The 10-N-glucuronidation pathway was the most important pathway both in terms of contribution to drug-related circulating species and as an excretory product in feces and urine.